I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a satisfying aria to sing. I hope you enjoyed Scream Trade as well. If fate hadn't dealt the hand it did I might still be singing somewhere. Who knows? There are days when the old pipes sound as good as ever. Thanks for the comment.
I am actually from Pittsburgh and met your voice teachers a very long time ago. I was lucky enough to hear Pavarotti, Milnes, and one of my favorites Ivan Rebroff when they were here. I wish I could have heard you because these guys were all over 200 lbs. I and I'm sure others would like to know more about the development and technique of the singing scream. Of course some of the other screams that you heard when you weren't singing might also make for good reading.
pavsmusic Hahahahaha. Indeed they would make for good reading, but being a gentleman, I have refrained from revealing the details of those encounters. ;-) What part of Pittsburgh are you from? My favorite of that old crowd was Rudolf Felner. I met him many years after leaving CIT, when he was the coach for a production of Falstaff in Chautauqua. He hadn't changed one iota.
Charles Long I am just west of the fort pitt tunnels by parkway center. I did some scenes for Rudolf Felner when he had what was called the Tuesday Musical. He was a character and suffered a little from being short. You might not have noticed being the star you were. See there you have some very, very successful memories. Me on the other hand am still trying make a memory of hitting the 4 g flats and 1 g at the end of Zaza.
Dear Mr. Long, I love your recording of this aria. You capture the bel canto beauty of it with musicality and a magnificent sorority. I too am a baritone although I never had a career as noteworthy as yours. I enjoyed reading your book and enjoyed your F.A. videos and completely understand your having taken them down. We live in interesting times. I wish you the best.
Robert, Please address me as Charles. No need for formality. :-) I'm glad you liked my rendition of "Zaza, piccola zingara". I always thought my voice was a little too heavy for the aria, although ideal for the entire role. Cascart is an odd mix of Pagliacci's Silvio and Tonio in one opera - dramatic one minute, lyrical the next. Although certainly not Leoncavallo's masterpiece, it's a compelling opera. His La Bohème has some wonderful moments as well and a great baritone area. We do indeed live in interesting times. It feels so much like the late 60s and early 70s, but not the best of those years. I do, however, see some light at the end of the tunnel as more of the populace is awakening. The best to you as well. May you have a wonderful new year.
Hi Donald, I somewhat agree with you. But rather than "covered," I would use the term heavy. As I wrote in the video notes, "I remember trying to sing this as lightly as possible, but after all these years it sounds a bit like 'Wotan sings Neapolitan Songs."' The interesting thing about this aria is that it's the only truly lyrical musical moment in the role. Most of it is quite declamatory. I always described Cascart as Tonio and Silvio rolled into one role. This aria is the Silvio moment and it's often difficult to switch gears in midstream. As I also recollect this production was squeezed in among a string of Tosca performances and my voice was in the Scarpia mode, which actually suited the entirety of the role quite well. Thanks for the comment.
